RESEARCH GUIDE: SENIOR PROJECT

Don’t forget to back up your work!

Save early, save often, and save to multiple locations. Use your Z: drive and two USB drives. Take pictures of your hand work, process work and critique comments, and back those pictures up along with your other digital files.

Covers glass, concrete, wood, metal, and plastic, with case studies featuring innovative uses of these materials in architecture and design

Case studies include photographs, plans, and lists of both successful and unsuccessful design features of plazas, parks, and outdoor spaces for campuses, preschools, elementary schools, hospitals, and housing for the elderly

Features a wide range of commercial, institutional and residential architecture, landscape and urban planning projects around the world

Includes case studies of libraries, performing arts facilities, college and university buildings, courthouses, fire stations, temples and chapels, and other commercial, institutional and residential projects

Offers online access to peer-reviewed research projects and case studies in all facets of building, from predesign, design, and construction through occupancy and reuse. Project Profiles are brief descriptions with no additional information, while other types of entries include PDF files with much more detail

Lists articles, research reports and scholarly journal articles related to interior design. Search by keyword (for example, autism), or click on Research to browse by design topic or project type

Research summaries provide information on designing for different types of occupants and different types of spaces, covering everything from codes to proxemics, from client interviews to sustainable building systems

Explores projects around the world that focus on environmental conservation, social transformation, and ecological design

Highlights sustainable buildings, interiors, landscapes and products around the world

Online

Highlights hundreds of pro bono projects of over 1400 architecture and design firms working in conjunction with 1+, a program of Public Architecture that connects these firms with nonprofits who need their services. Projects include clinics, schools, libraries, shelters, cultural and community centers, housing, museums, and more

Features projects by Architecture Sans Frontières, an organization committed to addressing social and environmental issues related to the built environment. Their quarterly Newsletter and bi-annual Awards highlight the latest work of their members

Features projects that used the SEED (Social Economic Environmental Design) standard to measure the social, economic and environmental impacts

The Vision, Trajectory, Mission, Integrative, and Regenerative sections of IDC’s website provide a framework for thinking about green design, and explain their Whole System Integration Process for design that goes beyond sustaining to regenerating

Covers structural, mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and interior systems as well as indoor air quality, acoustics, construction, and building regulations, with case studies

Considers all areas of sustainable design for commercial interiors, including water, energy, materials, indoor environmental quality, ratings and certifications, and making the business case for going green

Free design guides for education, healthcare, hospitality, office, and retail buildings, with information about daylighting, energy conservation, and other strategies to reduce the carbon footprint of buildings. Requires free registration

Provides information about and detailed guides to green building policy, the design and construction process, location and site, water management, energy efficiency, materials and resources, and indoor environmental quality

Covers the latest products, materials, methods, and regulations for sustainable construction, with diagrams and illustrations throughout

Explains different types of U.S. and international green building standards, green product certifications, and green building rating and certification systems, with links to relevant codes, standards and organizations

HPDs (Health Product Declarations) detail the material contents and potential health hazards of building products in a standard way that allows you to compare the eco-friendliness of products and materials. The HPD Collaborative provides the standard format and instructions to companies; each individual vendor is responsible for completing and publishing HPDs for their products.

Highlights design strategies for conserving water, with information about relevant codes and standards as well as links to sites with further information

Provides superb resources for the planning and construction of all building types, including guidelines for good design, project management tips, and tools for ensuring code compliance, estimating costs, analyzing energy use, life-cycle assessment, and more

Describes the process of and tools for selecting green building materials and products, with information about relevant codes and standards as well as links to sites with further information

Find explanations of different types of U.S. and international green building standards, green product certifications, and green building rating and certification systems, with links to relevant codes, standards and organizations.

Details items to consider when selecting furniture, including VOC levels, recycled or salvaged content, recyclability, supply chain and manufacturing process, certifications and ratings, cost, and more

Includes products certified by UL Environment to meet one or more standard for sustainability, including GREENGUARD, VOC emissions, water efficiency, recycled content, Environmental Product Declarations, and more

In the Library

Provides tips for creating effective presentations, based on what we know about how people think, learn, see, make decisions, and react to others. Each of the 100 tips is explained in 2 pages, with a summary of the research, an example, and a “takeaway” for you to implement

Provides tips, tricks, guidelines, and advice on writing and delivering presentations, as well as designing PowerPoint slides and other visuals

Free, high-resolution images of people that can be used in renderings and perspectives

CITE YOUR SOURCES

When your instructor doesn’t care how you cite as long as you do cite, make sure to include the information someone would need to find your source on their own. A citation for a case study might look like this:

Every time you use a quotation, a piece of information, or an image from another source, cite the source right where you use it, whether it’s on your project board or in your paper, job book or presentation.

Include enough information to allow your audience to figure out which source (from your complete list at the end) you’re citing. For example, if you use the case study in the example above, the citation on your board or presentation slide might be “Edith Green”.